5 Best Swimming Pools In Gloucestershire

On the right day, yes, and the right day means warm air rather than merely dry. Small children lose heat quickly in unheated water and a grey afternoon turns the trip into a short shivery dip and a long journey home. Given a day that plays along, though, grass underneath and sky overhead beat a tiled hall by a wide margin.

Multi-pool sites cope best. Put the question to a teenager and to a four-year-old and the answers have nothing in common, which is more than one stretch of water can resolve at once. That split becomes possible at GL1 and at Leisure at Cheltenham. Check session types before travelling, since not every session opens every pool.

On a leisure centre it usually points to outdoor pitches, courts or grounds that sit alongside the building rather than to an open-air pool. Worth confirming with the venue before telling children they will be swimming outside, because that particular disappointment is difficult to walk back once you have arrived and got changed.

Wet weekends and school holidays, in that order, with the middle of the afternoon the worst of it. Early sessions are calmer everywhere and are much easier with children who dislike noise and crowds. Book ahead and take an early slot where swimming is the actual plan; leaving the decision until lunchtime is what leaves you queueing.